Heredity is a tricky thing
by ShyOne21
Summary: Rachel learns that the apple can fall far from the tree.


Disclaimer: I still don't own anything save for my OC Isabelle Lopez and now introducing *Trumpets Blare*…Dianna Idina Fabray-Berry!

AN: Thanks to those of you who've read and enjoyed my fics, thank you so much. Here is another entry into my as of yet unnamed Glee futurefic universe. Also I apologize for any spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes that may be here or elsewhere, I don't have a beta so *shrug*

Rachel Fabray-Berry loved her daughter with all her heart, even if she sometimes made it hard. When Dianna was two years old Rachel had tried to get her started on classic musical theatre, figuring that if she started now then by the time she started Pre-School she'd be well studied in her mother's craft and ready to take on Pre-School much in the same way Rachel herself had many years ago. Quinn told her she was delusional but Rachel merely brushed it off.

Until Quinn turned out to be right. The second she had started the film Dianna began wailing so Rachel paused the film and went about changing her diaper before placing her back on the ground with her Gold Star Plushie and starting the film again.

Dianna immediately began crying again and so Rachel once again paused the film and whisked away to the kitchen to grab her bottle, handing it to the little girl now quietly resting on the floor. For the third time she hit play on the film and for the third time Dianna began to cry loudly, kicking her Gold Star away and throwing the bottle away (Years later Dianna would tell her mother she'd been trying to throw her bottle at the screen.)

Rachel had tried everything. She loaded up the couch with the seemingly endless amounts of stuffed creatures Dianna had in her room, she fed her, she changed her outfit and let her brown hair out of its' ponytail, they played with her Gold Star and Lemon Head (given by Santana who found the 'pressed lemon' comparison much more humorous than the ladies of the Fabray-Berry household) plushies for fifteen minutes straight but whenever she hit play on Cabaret it always ended the same. Dianna would immediately begin crying her heart out until the film was paused and the crying would stop instantaneously and no one could have even guessed the toddler had even be crying the moment before.

Rachel was near crying herself. She wasn't sure how anyone with her DNA could possibly dislike musical theatre. Her middle name was in honor of one of the most pre-eminent stage actresses of Rachel's time! Over the next few weeks Rachel would attempt this again with different musicals and the same result. Once Quinn had popped her head in, perfect eyebrows raised asking why Dianna kept crying and stopping. Rent, Wicked, Les Mis, Promises Promises, she'd even tried Seussical! But it all ended with the same cry from the brown eyed child as she clutched tightly to the Gold Star.

Rachel couldn't explain it and she wasn't about to accept the idea that her daughter disliked musical theatre, it just wasn't possible so she tried a different approach and brought Dianna into the living room once again. Dianna watched her mother apprehensively but quietly, waiting to see if her mother was trying to make her watch the dancing people again.

"Now Dianna, today we're going to try something a little different. I realize that at the moment musicals may be a little over your head. First they're mourning their lost love and the next moment they're two-stepping to their hearts content. Today we'll begin you're classical theatre training with a 1970s performance of _Waiting for Godot_ and while I may admit that it's not a favorite of my own I think you'll find the plot simple. Aren't you excited? Today we begin your theatre education!" Despite the fact that her 25th birthday was fast approaching Rachel still hadn't lost her ability to turn anything into a monologue and had she been paying closer attention she would've recognized Dianna giving her a look eerily similar to a look Quinn had given her many times throughout high school, a look that said 'Please get to the point.'

Rachel hit play and rather than focusing on the screen her gaze was directed down at Dianna who had yet to burst into tears. Success! They were well into the first act and Estragon and Vladimir continued to wonder as to Godot's whereabouts and Dianna was still sitting quietly watching the film and Rachel was ecstatic. She was already planning the next several days in her head, going over which plays would be best to start Dianna on and which would be most helpful towards building her appreciation for theatre and which would prepare her best for the musical theatre portion of her education.

Several weeks of planning and a full act later and the play was over and Rachel was up, popping the disc from the player and putting it back in the box. "You see Dianna? That wasn't so bad now was it? Now tomorrow we'll watch…" Rachel trailed off as she turned to look back at the two year old who she now realized had fallen asleep while sitting down.

Feeling dejected once again Rachel scrapped all her plans and put Dianna in her bed, continuing to plan how she'd educate such an unwilling student.

The following week Dianna once again sat in the living, her Dory sippy cup clutched in one hand as she watched her mother stand before her with a wide smile on her face. "Alright so my initial attempts have proved to be unsuccessful as musical theatre proved to be overly complex and plays lacked adequate stimulation. I now realize that in order to appeal to your interests while ensuring a proper musical education we will start on something more simple than plays but much more stimulating than plays. Something which has beloved characters that both you and I share."

Rachel's smile broadened as she held the blu-ray up for Dianna to see and watched as the toddler reached her hand out to touch the "_Disney on Ice" _cover. Rachel scurried off to place the disc in the player and sat back on the couch, handing Dianna her Simba teddy bear. This was perfect, the Ice show was light on story but heavy on performance arts and it was sure to keep Dianna's attention. Or so she thought.

About halfway through the film Dianna began to crawl away, something her mother didn't notice until ten minutes later when she looked down to see Simba gazing up at the screen sideways and Dianna nowhere to be found.

Rachel had to face the facts. As much as it pained her to say it her baby just didn't like performance arts of any kind. But she wasn't going to accept this without a fight which meant that she had to get to the bottom of this and find out exactly why Dianna was so resistant to her mother's very own profession.

It seemed obvious to Rachel that Santana must have something to do with this. Despite having formed a strong friendship with the Latina over the years their relationship was still filled with a sense of competition and copious amounts of taunting and name-calling and while she was sure Santana herself hadn't coerced her daughter into not liking musical theatre there was another much tinier and blonder Lopez that may have affected Dianna's appreciation of finer arts.

Santana was suspicious when Rachel had willingly offered to babysit for them but before she could question it Brittany whispered something to Santana which made the usually extremely argumentative lawyer end her line of questioning and accept the offer moments before closing the door in Rachel's face.

The following Thursday her and Quinn were cuddled on the couch, her feet tucked under her as she leant against the older blonde as Izzy and Dianna sat playing on the floor. Izzy's Spider-Man was trying to combat Dianna's Unicorn and Elephant teddy bears, leaving the brunette toddler confused as the little Lopez continued to make sound effects.

As the credits rolled for the film they'd been watching Rachel sprang up from her spot on the couch much to Quinn's dismay and she crouched down in front of the two year olds. "Alright girls, now we're going to watch 'Disney on Ice' again okay Dianna? I know you've seen it in part before but this time I think it'd be pertinent for you to stay until the end this time. Agreed?"

Quinn raised her eyebrow as her wife held out a hand to their daughter for her to shake, smiling amusedly as Dianna reached out to shake her mother's hand as Izzy laughed and shook the Unicorn's hoof. Once again settled beside the older blonde but now much less relaxed than she had been before, Rachel hit play on the film and began to watch to toddlers as it started.

Dianna had attempted to walk out of the room several times and was now situated in Rachel's lap, silently fussing as she tried to slide away and out of the room, away from the trademarked characters on Ice Skates. Meanwhile Izzy sat quietly on the floor, eyes locked on the event on screen. After a few more minutes of fussing Rachel switched the little girl over to Quinn's lap and went to turn the movie off. However when she turned around Quinn was up and walking towards the kitchen with Dianna against her hip, smiling and shaking her head and Rachel who then looked down to see Izzy giving her one of Santana's patented glares.

Blonde eyebrows furrowed as Izzy glared at her Aunt Rachel who sighed and went to turn the lights back off and hit play again, sitting back to watch the ice skating extravaganza as Isabelle clapped at the appropriate moments and watching in awe. After it was over Rachel placed a recording of Seussical the Musical in and Izzy once again sat silently, smiling along at every song and it made Rachel happy that some children enjoyed musical theatre. But of course it had to be Santana's child. She took solace in the fact that Izzy might grow to love musical theatre the way she did and Rachel knew that'd be sure to aggravate the Latina. Of course her mood once again soured when she heard Dianna crying in the other room and Quinn crying out, "Rachel did you put on another musical?"

After weeks of events Rachel had given up. Her child hated musical theatre, she hated plays, and she hated fictional characters on ice. Still, Rachel was positive that she had finally gotten to the bottom of exactly why that was. "This is all your fault."

Quinn was happily munching away on her BLT when her wife stomped into the room with this accusation. "What's my fault?"

Rachel huffed before launching into her explanation, "Quinn, seeing as Dianna has of my DNA I assumed she'd turn out to have a natural affinity and respect for the performance arts and yet she doesn't Over the passed month and a half I have tried everything I can to remedy that and I've also investigated any external reasons as to why she may dislike musical theatre and I found none, in fact Izzy seems to love musical theatre and while I'm sure that she'll come to mock it much as Santana does that doesn't change the fact that she enjoys musical theatre more than my own child!"

Over the years Quinn had learned the importance of paying attention to Rachel, knowing that sooner or later it'd come up again later. It was difficult sometimes (like now) but she endured it and tried to take in as much as she could while ignoring some of the more minor details.

"So I have come to the conclusion that if no external factors have created this dislike of theatre then I must look towards the person who provided the other half of her DNA. You!" Quinn looked on confused as her wife pointed an upset finger at her. "Rach, I was in Glee remember? And I've always been front row for everything you've ever done, I don't hate theatre."

"Ah but you don't love it either! And all throughout high school and college whenever I tried to get you to sign up for something you'd often run in the other direction, literally." Quinn frowned, she would never live down running across campus when Rachel had tried to sign her up for the campus theatre's performance of Wicked.

"Look, maybe she's just too young to enjoy it. Sure Izzy likes it but let's remember, she's Brittany and Santana's so she enjoys bright things, dancing, laughing at people in weird clothes and poking fun at the misfortune of others." Quinn shrugged and Rachel calmed down, frowning still as Quinn pulled the shorter girl into her lap.

"I know I'm being irrational and obsessive but I can't help it. I've always loved performing and was just hoping she would enjoy it as much as I have." She laid back against her wife who kissed the side of her head. "Rach, she's two. This time next year she won't even remember what she likes now. There's still plenty of time for her to become just as obsessed with theatre as you have."

Rachel nodded, turning her head to plant a kiss on Quinn's lips that deepened. Seven years together and Quinn's lips still took her breath away. The two women untangled themselves and went off to the living room in search of their daughter. When they saw her Rachel froze on the spot and Quinn took a few steps away.

There Dianna sat in the middle of the living room, clapping as she watched the cheerleading film playing on the television. Her Gold Star plushie long forgotten on the couch as she clutched and shook a pompom along with the girls on screen. Quinn crept slowly and silently back towards the kitchen before Rachel exploded.

"The is all your fault Quinn!"


End file.
